Game
plan for Super Bowl commercials: Avoid politics
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[January 31, 2018]
By Lisa Richwine
(Reuters) - After politics seeped onto
the football field during the regular season, Super Bowl advertisers
are opting to stay far away from anything divisive when they pitch
to the year's biggest television audience on Sunday.
Makers of cars, snacks and electronics are favoring heart-warming
and humorous approaches to grab viewers' attention during the U.S.
football championship between the New England Patriots and
Philadelphia Eagles.
Pepsi Co brands Doritos and Mountain Dew, for example, staged a
lip-sync rap battle between actors Peter Dinklage and Morgan Freeman
in a teaser released online. Amazon.com Inc's Alexa assistant lost
her voice in the company's preview of its Super Bowl ad.
Advertisers are likely to stick with proven strategies, such as
comedy or positive emotions rather than controversies such as
athletes kneeling during the National Anthem, marketing experts
said.
"My strong prediction is you will see a lot more safe ads," said
Derek Rucker, marketing professor at Northwestern University's
Kellogg School of Management, which runs an annual review of Super
Bowl commercials.
Ratings for National Football League games dropped nearly 10 percent
during the regular season. Media experts said protests over racial
inequality drove some viewers away. TV broadcasters showed players
kneeling or locking arms during pre-game presentations of "The
Star-Spangled Banner," prompting President Donald Trump to call them
unpatriotic.
Super Bowl advertisers are likely to avoid the topic altogether,
said Charles R. Taylor, marketing professor at the Villanova School
of Business. His research has found that 49 percent of Super Bowl
commercials during the past decade used humor, which he expects to
continue.
"The country is just so divided that, for a mass marketer, I think
it's really a mistake to make any type of political statement,"
Taylor said. "In the long run, you don't make up for the people you
alienate."
Last year, a handful of spots hit on topics such as immigration and
diversity but took measured tones aimed at appealing to a broad
range of viewers, Taylor said.
For this year's game, veterans organization Amvets tried to place a
one-page advertisement with the message "#PleaseStand" in the Super
Bowl program. The NFL rejected the ad and said the program was not a
place for anything that could be viewed as a political statement.
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A journalist walks down the steps inside US Bank Stadium during a
media preview for this weekend's Super Bowl in downtown Minneapolis,
Minnesota, U.S. January 30, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
The game program will include a Veterans of Foreign Wars ad that
supports veterans, and the league will celebrate the military at the
game, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told ESPN Radio on Tuesday.
On television, advertisers cannot afford any missteps. Broadcaster
NBC, a unit of Comcast Corp, charged an average of $5 million-plus
for a 30-second spot. More than 100 million viewers are expected to
watch the contest.
This year, more brands are holding back their ads to preserve the
element of surprise rather than posting them online in advance of
game day.
Some that have revealed their strategies are tying their products to
social missions, an approach that appeals to millennials, Taylor
said.
In one case, actor Matt Damon tells viewers that Anheuser Busch
Inbev label Stella Artois is donating funds to bring clean water to
Africa. Carmaker Hyundai plans a 60-second commercial that
recognizes people fighting pediatric cancers and spotlights the
company's nonprofit organization dedicated to the cause.
Some brands may opt for a dark or political theme to try to stand
out from the roughly 50 ads that run during the game, Rucker said.
"If there are a couple that break that trend, they will get more
attention," Rucker said. "The question will be will they navigate it
properly, or will they be the source of ridicule?"
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Susan Thomas)
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